Independence Eternal

by Leafdoggy

Epilogue

I can’t sleep, so I figured I might as well finish this thing. It’s strange, looking back and seeing the last few things I wrote here. They were so happy. I pretty much dropped this whole project when things went south, so it looks like I just got bored and stopped. 

Oh well. That’s a story for another time.

Fluttershy’s been fine. My Fluttershy, I mean. I don’t really want to write down all those years of her life, but I’ll give you the gist of it. After everything that happened, we… Moved, for lack of a better term. Found a new home. It was hard on us all, but Fluttershy probably had the worst time out of our little group. Ponyville meant so much to her, and without Rainbow Dash…

Time moves on, though. She grew to love our new home. (We wound up calling it Maretropolis. I know, it’s silly, but I think we needed something silly.) She found ways to… Cope, with it all. She fought through it.

 She’s living a life, at least, which is more than I can say for myself.

She isn’t the reason I opened this up again. I met another Fluttershy. Way younger than mine. Way less calm, too. I mean, I know she was stressed, but looking back on it, I think even my Fluttershy has mellowed out over the years. 

I was glad to see that energy from her.

I know I’ve made mistakes. More mistakes than I’ll ever know. But seeing her, seeing how determined she was to do what was right…

I think Dusty was right. I think I should have moved on. I loved Rainbow Dash. We all did. But she never would have wanted me to give up my own life looking for her. I had to try. I don’t regret the first few years. But after a certain point, sacrifice like that just becomes… Selfish.

I’m rambling. This isn’t about me.

Fluttershy… I can’t say much about her. I only really knew her for a few hours. She knew what was right, though. There’s no doubt about that.

She’s also atrocious at interior design, but we all knew that already.

I guess I have less to write here than I thought I would. I’m pretty much out of insight. All that’s left now is to send this off to Fluttershy. I certainly have no interest in keeping it. 

Thanks, Fluttershy.

Dear Twilight,

Hopefully this gets to you. Our Twilight says it should, but I worry anyway. Um, if you’re not her, could you get this letter to Twilight Sparkle please?

It’s Fluttershy, by the way. I wanted to write and thank you for everything you did for us. I know you feel responsible for everything, but that isn’t going to stop me from thanking you. So, thank you.

Sorry I couldn’t get Dusty to write a letter. She’s getting settled in, though. I think, eventually, she’ll write. Just be patient.

She’s doing well! She’s staying with Rainbow Dash until she can get a place of her own. I was worried about that at first, but apparently it’s been good for her. She said she feels like a guest there now, instead of an intruder.

My leg is much better. It was just a sprain, but I made it a lot worse by being… You know. It feels so silly, looking back on it all now.

I’m thankful for that, actually. When it was just me and Dusty, it felt like I would be angry forever. Like something had broken inside of me. Then we got home, though, and I was surrounded by my friends again, and everything just seemed so much brighter. That made it so much easier to talk things through with her.

Also, thank you for the book! It’s a perfect keepsake to remember you by. I’ve been reading a bit of it every night. It’s funny how similar our lives were. It makes the tiny differences seem much bigger.

I hope things are well with you. I’m sending this with a picture of all of us with Dusty, so if you’re ever feeling down about things, you can remember that she’s happy. It should help. Keep in touch, okay?

So. Weird few days.

Fluttershy’s back, thank Celestia. I was about ready to start tearing holes in the world looking for her. It looks like it was my fault she disappeared, so that’s going to eat at me for a while, but it’s worth it to have her back.

She didn’t come back alone, though. She was with another, older Rainbow Dash? Except not, really. She looks like Rainbow Dash, but whatever happened to her in her life must’ve really shaken things up.

So, yeah. That’s Dusty.

She’s kinda tough to get a read on. I mean, it definitely doesn’t help that she hides in her hood any time I’m around, but Fluttershy seems confident that’s temporary. Even past that, though, it’s just strange to meet a new version of somepony you already know. I keep expecting her to act like Rainbow Dash, and then she just… Doesn’t.

Like, the other day, Applejack caught her sneaking through the orchard, grabbing apples to eat. Old habits, I guess. So Applejack got mad at her, like she would’ve with Rainbow Dash, but Dusty just apologized. Profusely. Applejack felt so bad about spooking her, she said Dusty could just have apples whenever she wants. She’s lucky they’re not Dusty’s favorite food.

Rainbow Dash is having a blast. She’s been taking Dusty everywhere with her. Really freaking out some ponies when they see two of her. I’m curious if she’s partially doing it because she can tell how hard things are for Dusty, but it’s hard to say. Rainbow Dash is definitely the kind of pony who would love to meet herself.

We’ve practically had to strap Fluttershy to a hospital bed to keep her off her leg. I mean, I get it. She’s worried about Dusty. She saw the worst of it, and well, she’s Fluttershy. But there’s still bits of Rainbow Dash in there. Dusty is strong. The best thing Fluttershy can do is get better.

Let’s see, who else… Well, Pinkie is Pinkie. It hit her hard the first day when Dusty said she’d forgotten who we are, but she bounced back. Now she’s been spending days “making up for all those years without sweets.” 

Rarity kidnapped Dusty for a few hours the second day to grill her about clothes. She was worried Dusty would only wear cloaks, but they worked out some more stuff. Hats, scarves, whatever will set her apart. Rarity keeps talking to her about dying parts of her fur, but that’s a hard thing to convince somepony to do. 

She’s decided to stay in Ponyville, at least for now. She says she’s comfortable around us. It makes sense, those friendships were still there, buried deep down inside her. Even just little embers like that make it a lot easier to rekindle those bonds. 

She said she wants a treehouse. Not like mine, not a house in a tree, but an actual house on top of a tree. So we’ve been working on that. We’re trying to grow a huge tree at the outskirts of the Everfree. Kind of near Fluttershy’s house. It’s going to be… Well, house sized. It’ll probably become another house like mine that people associate Ponyville with, but hey, it’s still not as showy as Rainbow Dash’s house.

I think she’s going to be happy here.

Dear Fluttershy,

Well, I did it. It took me a couple months, but I went home. Everypony was… Everypony is happy to have me back. Too happy, I feel, but I know you would berate me for saying so. I don’t need two Fluttershys on my case about my mental health.

I realized I never really explained why I was there in the first place. It’s a long story that I don’t really want to tell, but the important part for now is… I haven’t been home in years. Only a few years, but still years. 

Long enough for my friends to change.

I told them about Dusty. They’re happy, mostly. It’s a lot easier to reconcile when we’re all together. It’s a bittersweet happiness, but… They’re happy.

As for myself… I don’t know. I have my friends, I’ll be okay, but for now I just don’t know.

That’s enough of my pity party, though. Everypony here has been asking about you. Wanting to know what you’re like, how different you are. I don’t really know what to tell them. I can tell them what I saw, but I don’t feel like that’s the real you.

Pinkie suggested that you should visit. I know that’s a lot to ask, you don’t really know any of us, but they’d all really enjoy hearing about Dusty from one of her friends. Maybe Fluttershy could even give you some advice.

Think about it. I’d really like to see you.

Hey Twilight.

Sorry this took me so long. It’s tough. This is, like, my thirtieth try writing this thing. Everything I write ends up feeling like I’m lying.

I don’t know what to say. I’m not really mad at you anymore. You still… It’s still hard to forgive you for it all, but I’m not angry. Or afraid.

That actually makes this harder to write. There’s just no way to say this nicely. I’ve tried and tried, but there’s just no way.

I don’t want to know you, Twilight.

I’m sorry. I know you probably had a lot of hope riding on getting a letter from me. I need to do what’s right for me, though. I have a new life here. I’m not Rainbow Dash to anypony here. It’s been good for me. I’m happy. But my past is my past. I have to move on.

I know you and Fluttershy are still in touch. I don’t mind her telling you about me. If there’s something you need from me, something to ease your own hurting, you can always have her ask me. But I’ve asked her not to tell me about you. Any of you. And I’m asking you the same thing.

Be happy, Twilight. And goodbye.